Independent News & Media cuts profits expectation

Independent News & Media lowered its profit expectations for the 2017 financial year into the red against the backdrop of revenue decline and increased legal costs.

The Dublin based company announced on Thursday "a material reduction in expected full year profit before tax", mainly due to a combination of ongoing, uncertain challenging market conditions including Brexit, continued revenue challenges and higher one-off legal costs, it said.

Those legal costs were in relation to the independent review and meeting the ongoing requirements of the office of the director of corporate enforcement, which were significantly higher than previously estimated.

The company also said it was actively engaged in tackling the challenges it currently faced, while seeking to maximise its revenue streams.

The company's preliminary results for the twelve months ending 31 December 2017, due to be announced on 9 March 2018.